Attachment for hospital beds



April 13 1926.

W. LIDGETT ET AL ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPTTAL BEDS original Filed April 21, 1924 INVENTORS WaLLer- L Patented Apr. 13, 1926. V

UNITED STATES PATENT". OFFICE.

WALTER LIDGETT AND JOHN nAMLYN, or SACRAMENTO, 'cnmrorm'm.

ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS.

Application filed April 21, 1924, Serial No. 707,867. Renewed October 21, 1925 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that We, WVALTER LIDGETT and JOHN I-IAMLYN, citizens 'of the United States of America and Canada, respectively, residing at Sacramento, county of Sacramento, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Hospital Beds; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application. 7

This inventionrelates to a device to be mounted on a hospital bed and useable inconnection with the weights employed in keeping a patients broken or injured limbs or other members stretched in place after such members have been set.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a device of this character so con structed that the patient is enabled to raise and lower himself with a degree of comfort not attainable with the present form of attachment. At the same time the injured member will always be stretched with an equal pressure.

Another object isto provide a device of this kind having adjustment means so that it can readily be attached to different beds in any suitable locations thereon.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly eflective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects we accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

- In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device as applied to a bed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 denote the upper and lower bars of the head or foot of a hospital bed of ordinary character.

Our device, to be demountably connected to these bars, comprises a vertical frame whose end portions 3 are tubular and slope outwardly, or away from the plane of the bars, from their ends to a central boss 4.

This boss has a vertical slot 5 extending lon gitudinally of the bed in which is mounted a pulley 6. Over this pulley rides the usual rope 7, the lower-end of which is attached to a weight 8 and the opposite end to the leg or other cast, as is customary. ,By'this construction of the frame the weight is kept clear of the bed and its coverings.

In the upper frame member 3 is slidably mounted a stem 9 adapted to be held in position relative to said member 3 by adjustable clamping means 10 on the latter. An adjustable clamping member 11 of suitable character is carried by said stem at the upper endthereof and is adapted for engagement with the upper bed bar 1. This clamp is of a type which may readily swing wide open so to be easily placed about the bearing, and is preferably lined with rubber or other resilient material 12 so as not to scratch or mar the enamel on the bar.

The lower frame member 3 also has astem 13 slidable therein and held set in any position by clamping means 1 1 on the adjacent member 3, of a similar nature to the clamping means 10. The outer end of the stem 13 has a horizontal member 15 parallel to and above the bar 2 and extending equally on both sides of said stem. At both ends of the member 15 are clamps 16 of the same construction as the clamps 11, for engagement with the lower bar 2.

By means of this method of attaching the frame to the bed, it is held from any twisting movement, and the rope to Which the leg or other cast is attached is held clear of the bed and is freely movable about the pulley, allowing the patient to raise and lower himself without affecting the pull on the rope. The adjustability of the stems 9 and 13 allows the device to be applied to beds, thedistance between whose bars 1 and 2 differs, and also enables the vertical positioning of the pulley relative to the bed to be altered at will.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that we have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bed attachment for surgical purposes comprising a frame lying in a vertical plane, a pulley mounted on the frame intermediate its ends, stems adjustably mounted at opposite ends of the frame, and clamps carried by said stems at the outer ends thereof to removably engage the upper and lower horizontal bars at the end of a bed.

2. A bed attachment for surgical purposes comprising a frame lying in a vertical plane, a pulley mounted on the frame intermediate its ends, stems adjustably mounted. at opposite ends of the frame, a horizontal member extending on both sides of one of said stems at the outer end thereof, and

clamps at the outer end of said horizontal member and the other stem adapted for detachable engagement with the upper and lower horizontal bars at the end of a. bed.

3. A bed attachment for surgical purposes including a frame, lying in a vertical plane, clamps supported by the frame beyond thr ends thereof for engaging the upper and lower horizontal. bars at the end of a bed, the frame sloping outwardly of the plane of the bars from each end, and a pulley mounted in the frame in its outermost portion.

In testimony whereof we ailix our signatures.

WALTER LIDGETT. JOHN HAMLYN. 

